Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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8. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her views on the feasibility of extending child benefit to children who are 18 years or over, but are still in full-time post-primary education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50309/22]

Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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29. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of persons who will benefit from the double payment of child benefit; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49598/22]

Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael)
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46. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection when she expects to be able to provide the bonus child benefit payment to families; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50617/22]

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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89. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will consider expanding the children's allowance payment to include children after the age of 18 years who are still in second level education; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50595/22]

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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My question is on the feasibility of extending child benefit to children who are aged over 18 years but are still in full-time post-primary education. Is this something the Minister has considered?

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Question Nos. 8, 29, 46 and 89 together as they all relate to the same thing. Child benefit is a universal monthly payment made to families with children up to the age of 16 years. The payment continues to be paid in respect of children who are in full-time education until their 18th birthday, whether that is post-primary, post leaving certificate or third level. Payment up to age 18 years is also made in respect of children who have a disability. Estimated expenditure on the scheme will be approximately €2.1 billion in 2022.

In budget 2023 I secured a significant social welfare package of over €2.1 billion. As part of that, one of my priorities was to provide support for families and children. People who are in receipt of child benefit will receive a cost-of-living double payment on 1 November 2022 and that will be made to approximately 638,000 families in respect of over 1.2 million children at an estimated cost of €170.4 million.

Although the current arrangements for extending child benefit to the age of 18 were primarily intended to cover situations where a child is in full-time post-primary education, they are not limited in this way but are available for children aged up to 18 in full-time education, including those in third level education. The suggestion to extend the age limit, but in so doing exclude those in further or higher education from what is generally a universal payment, may therefore presents difficulties. In addition, the cost consequences of any such extension would need to be considered.

Separately, I emphasise that for those on social welfare payments, an increase for a qualified child will be paid up to the age of 22 or up to the end of the academic year in which he or she reaches 22. This approach ensures targeted assistance that is directly linked to household income and thereby supports low-income families with older children participating in full-time education.

Families on low incomes may be able to avail of a number of social welfare schemes that support children in full-time education until the age of 22, including the increase for a qualified child, primary social welfare payments, the working family payment for low-paid employees with children, and the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance. These schemes provide targeted assistance that is directly linked to household income and thereby support low-income families with older children participating in full-time education. In addition, there are budget measures specifically for families with children, such as the double child benefit payment and the €500 lump sum payment to recipients of the working family payment. Low-income families will also benefit from other budget measures, such as the €12 increase in the weekly personal rate for recipients of the working age payment.

In July, the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance was increased by €100 for each eligible child under the scheme. This year, the amount paid for each qualified child aged four to 11 years is €260. The rate payable for each eligible child aged 12 and over is €385. Approximately 151,000 families, with more than 262,000 children, have benefited from this measure. Budget 2023 also provides a €40 weekly increase in the working family payment income limits for families of all sizes from January, at a cost of approximately €16.8 million in 2023. I have also provided for a €500 lump sum payment to all families in receipt of the payment in November 2022, at an estimated cost of €23 million. I have provided for a €2 increase in the qualified child payment to €42 per week for children aged under 12 and by €2 to €50 per week for children over 12. These increases will take effect from January at an estimated cost of €30.4 million.

Child benefit delivers a standard rate of €140 a month for each child in a family. Similarly, the targeted payments mentioned above are paid in respect of each qualifying child. The income limit associated with the working family payment increases with increasing family size. In the case of twins, child benefit is paid at 1.5 times the normal monthly rate for each child. For triplets and other multiple births, child benefit is paid at double the normal monthly rate for each child.

There are many supports in the budget for families and children, including the double payment of child benefit in November; the autumn cost-of-living double payment paid to recipients of a range of schemes in October, including one-parent family payment and jobseeker's transitional payment recipients; the Christmas bonus double payment to recipients of a range of schemes, including the one-parent family payment; the €500 cost-of-living lump sum payment to all families in receipt of the working family payment; and a €400 lump sum payment to all fuel allowance recipients. There is much in this, which is not to mention what the Minister, Deputy Harris, announced in his package.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for outlining all the supports and measures that she introduced in this budget. People are grateful for them and they have gone down positively in my community. I thank her for that level of investment. It was interesting to hear the Minister talk about 16 years of age being the cut-off point for child benefit, with an extension once people are still in full-time education. Was 16 years of age set at a time when many people chose to leave school at 16? I started college at 17. I was part of a generation from which many went to college. Now, people are often 18 or 19 when they go to college. Transition year is done much more frequently or people may have started school when they were five or six, so they may now be in full-time post-primary education at 18. There is a gap where we are not supporting parents through that transition. If people then go to college, they may be entitled to the Student Universal Support Ireland grant. There are probably only six months in which those children and young people who are 18 are not getting that child benefit. Could that be looked at, costed or modelled with a view to exploring the idea?

Alan Farrell (Dublin Fingal, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for her response. I lend my support to Deputy Higgins's proposal, which I think is merited. While I note the significant range of measures that the Minister has announced in this budget and the information that she has provided to the House, there is a gap. It is a small gap which affects less than half of leaving certificate students and their families, but it should be borne in mind. As Deputy Higgins said, this scheme was probably designed when fourth year was not done in all schools and children perhaps started school a little earlier. I highlight the welcome support for 1.2 million children whose parents will receive a double payment. The Minister is talking about an expansionary budget in her Department which will benefit more than 639,000 families in just one area and it should be welcomed, particularly with the backdrop of the cost-of-living crisis.

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Minister for the comprehensive response. There is a wide range of positive supports. When people reach 16, they need to confirm that they are in full-time education to be eligible. Clearly, full-time secondary school education is the threshold to be eligible. They continue to be in that situation, with the same costs, throughout the leaving certificate cycle, whether they are 16, 17, 18 or even 19. They are similar costs and will not differ. Many do not have the opportunity to work and would be so focused on the leaving certificate that they would not want to be earning or in employment. Has the Minister looked at the number of people who would just have turned 18 or are almost 19 who are still in the leaving certificate cycle? What costs would be involved in supporting them? It would be a practical measure to support families. Household costs have not really changed throughout.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Deputies. For those people who are in receipt of social welfare payments, an increase for a qualified child will be paid up to the age of 22 or until the end of the academic year in which they reach 22. This approach ensures targeted assistance that is directly linked to household income and thereby supports low-income families with older children participating in full-time education. I take the Deputies' points. Keeping a child in full-time education is expensive. Budgets are also about choices. We are providing €2.2 billion in supports, between the various lump-sum payments and the changes which will take effect from January. It represents the largest social protection budget in the history of the State, but even with that, we cannot do everything that we want to. There are other things that we would like to do, but at the end of the day, the Government has to cut its cloth to measure. I prioritised the double payment of child benefit in the budget, which will support 639,000 families with 1.2 million children. That measure alone will cost €170 million, which demonstrates the scale of the calls for any changes to child benefit. I hear the point about somebody who is older than 18 and still in full-time second level education.

However, if we expanded the child benefits currently in place it would have cost implications into the future. In budget 2023 it was decided to target low-income families on a long-term basis through providing for the increases in the personal rates of payment and increases for the qualified child as well as increases in the working family payment income threshold. The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, announced a comprehensive package in the budget to reduce the cost of third level education. The income limit for the student contribution 50% grant has been increased to €62,000 and student maintenance grants will increase in January. There is a €30 million increase in funding to increase capacity for apprenticeships in 2023. When these changes are seen in the round there is a good deal of support to help both working families and those who are not in receipt of social welfare payments. However my job as Minister for Social Protection is to target those who are least well off in our society. Looking at the whole package that we put together it is a very comprehensive budget package.

Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for her response. This really was a cost-of-living budget. It was about targeting help towards people who most need it and also providing universal assistance. Every family throughout the country is struggling with the increase in the cost of living. It was good to hear the Minister talk about those low-income families who received the targeted support of the qualified child payment up to the age of 23 while in full-time education. A universal support measure could be to assist people during those few months when they may have an 18-year-old still in second level education. In particular I am thinking of the squeezed middle which would benefit from that. Will the Minister undertake some level of costings to see whether this may be possible to include in next year’s budget?

Aindrias Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The measures and the focus on lower income families is positive and constructive. I agree with the Minister on it. Not every household is on social welfare. There are those that are just beyond the threshold. They also feel the burden of costs. Choices must be made. You have to cut your cloth according to measure but to do that you must measure. Has the Minister measured how many people would be involved if this support was made available? Has she examined what the cost would be? It is hugely important. One cannot make an informed decision without having the figures available. We are really looking at a small number of people. Has the Minister actually measured that and put a figure on it? It would support many households where people have just turned 18 years of age and who have not yet done the leaving certificate.

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Trying to establish whether people are in full-time education or not would be hard for us. If they are over 18 years of and are still in second level education, it would be hard to find the data and it could take some time. I am not sure where we would obtain it because people themselves have to declare that their children are still in full-time education at the age of 16. I am always willing to look at other ways in which we can help people so I would say to each of the Deputies that I am of course happy to look at these things. I continue to look at different ways in which we can improve the supports we give to people. I am conscious that there are people who receive no support other than the child benefit support. That is why in this budget the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy O’Gorman, included the 25% reduction in childcare costs. A single person on €40,000 will be €800 better off per year as a result of the income tax changes while a couple will be €1,600 better off following the budget changes. Next September there will be free schoolbooks in primary school. There is free transport at the moment. There is a good deal in this budget to support working families. That is a positive thing. I continue to review all the schemes we have to see whether we can make them better. Each year there are more and more welcome changes and I will continue to do that. To answer the Deputies who have raised this issue with me, I will look at it, and I thank them for raising it.